Release Date: 09/02/2008
Run Time: 66:27

It's virtually impossible to tell from the packaging of this release what you're getting, a problem that has been present in earlier releases of these performances (which have been bouncing around since the late '80s) but has worsened here. "Songbook & Improvisations," reads the subtitle on the front cover. The back reads, "A Gershwin Songbook: Preludes and Improvisations on Songs by George Gershwin." That's more or less accurate, if confusingly phrased; there aren't any vocal songs included. The booklet makes matters worse by mentioning the Gershwin Song-Book (1932), a fascinating little work in which Gershwin notated some of the impromptu piano improvisations on his songs that he might perform at small gatherings. The booklet goes on to state that many of the Song-Book numbers "have become 'standards,' such as "Summertime," from the opera Porgy and Bess, which was still several years away from being composed when the Song-Book appeared. It's a complete mess, and the only saving grace is that what you actually get, from British Gershwin specialist Wayne Marshall, is quite artful. For the record, he plays the three Preludes for piano, as notated, at the beginning of the album. Then he offers 14 improvisations on Gershwin vocal numbers, indeed including "Summertime," in a version lasting more than 12 minutes; they are not Gershwin's but his own. Perhaps as a result of his background as an organist, Marshall is a clearly superior improviser, with a consistently absorbing way of weaving each phrase of a tune into a polyphonic texture. Sample Summertime (track 7) as extensively as you can, and you may be hooked on the entire program: it's a splendid fantasy on the tune, disassembling it and reconstituting it on a very large canvas. Like other European Gershwin players, Marshall is circumspect when it comes to the jazz rhythms in Gershwin; his is a very classical Gershwin. But he consistently turns this into a virtue. The Preludes have a rather improvisatory feel themselves, with the jazzy qualities deemphasized and lots of fascinating details from the inner lines brought out. The upshot is that, of all the thousands of Gershwin recordings on the market, this one is actually quite distinctive. Here's hoping it gets more careful packaging next time. ~ James Manheim, All Music Guide

Be the first to review this product!

Release Date: 09/02/2008
Run Time: 66:27